Shop
It is Newgarden, McLaughlin, Santino Ferrucci, and Alex Palou in the top four after 110 laps, which have included six Cautions so far.
Critically, if rain does return, the race can be made official now, although Indianapolis is relatively sunny at present.
Race start was delayed by approximately four hours due to rain/lightning and 2022 Indy 500 winner Marcus Ericsson’s (#28 Andretti Global Honda) long wait was for nothing when he could not avoid a spinning Tom Blomqvist (#66 Meyer Shank Racing Honda) on Lap 1.
Marcus Armstrong got hardly any further, pitting during the Caution which ensued due to an engine failure for the #11 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.
McLaughlin (#3 Chevrolet) led the field to green for a second time on Lap 9, from Penske team-mates Will Power (#12 Chevrolet) and Newgarden (#2 Chevrolet).
Kyle Larson dropped from fifth to 13th when he broke into wheelspin and then mis-shifted in the #17 McLaren Chevrolet, as Ferrucci (#14 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet) took up fourth and Alexander Rossi (#5 McLaren Chevrolet) fifth.
They ran that way until another Caution on Lap 22 after Katherine Legge’s #51 Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing Honda suffered an engine failure.
Most pitted, with Sting Ray Robb (#41 AJ Foyt Chevrolet) inheriting the lead, from Conor Daly (#24 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Chevrolet), Christian Lundgaard (#45 RLL Honda), and Graham Rahal (#15 RLL Honda), the latter three of whom stopped under the first Caution.
McLaughlin, Power, and Newgarden filled fifth through seventh ahead of the Lap 27 restart, at which point Daly rounded up Robb at Turn 1.
Yellows flew again on Lap 28 when Linus Lundqvist (#8 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) spun into the wall after losing control at the bottom of a four-wide run into Turn 1.
Under Caution, Daly led Robb, McLaughlin, Ferrucci, Lundgaard, Rahal, and Newgarden, with Power 10th, Colton Herta (#26 Andretti Global w/ Curb-Agajanian Honda) 11th, Larson 16th and Scott Dixon (#9 CGR Honda) 17th.
McLaughlin jumped to the front as soon as the race restarted on Lap 33 and Ferrucci rounded up Daly at Turn 2, only for the DRR driver to reclaim second place a lap later.
Daly then reclaimed the lead from McLaughlin as they approached Turn 1 on Lap 37, holding top spot until he pitted on Lap 43.
McLaughlin thus reassumed first position, with Ferrucci and Rossi close behind, then Herta and Newgarden, while Power had slumped all the way to 13th, behind Larson in 10th and Dixon in 11th.
The race settled down until MSR’s Felix Rosenqvist became the next victim of a Honda detonation while running seventh on Car #60 on Lap 56.
The fourth Caution of the day brought most back to pit lane as Daly and Robb cycled back to the front.
Rossi stole the effective lead on the ‘primary’ strategy when he exited the pits in third place, ahead of McLaughlin, who was slow out of his box.
Herta sat fifth, from Newgarden, Palou (#10 CGR Honda), and Ferrucci after a slow stop, with Larson 10th.
Power inherited 11th and Dixon 13th when Rinus VeeKay (#21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet) was pinged for an unsafe release.
The Lap 65 restart saw McLaughlin dive for the pit wall and squeeze into the lead, from Robb and Herta.
The Kiwi held it for a lap before Robb went down his inside at Turn 1, just after Daly had reclaimed fourth spot from Newgarden.
McLaughlin seemed happy to sit in Car #41’s slipstream but was complaining that “the clutch is terrible.”
Robb pitted from the lead on Lap 77 and thus Daly, who had passed Newgarden, from second on Lap 79.
Herta was running second on Lap 86 when he spun into the wall at Turn 1 and vacated the #26 Honda, despite the damage looking relatively minor.
The Caution triggered more pit stops, except for the new top four of VeeKay, Lundgaard, Robb, and Daly.
Newgarden jumped McLaughlin in the lane to move into fifth, with Ferrucci seventh, from Rossi, Palou, Power, and Larson, while Dixon was 16th.
Restart 5 on Lap 92 saw Lundgaard pass VeeKay on the run to Turn 1, with Ferrucci jumping to third.
Newgarden passed Ferrucci into Turn 1 next time around, as VeeKay and Lundgaard traded the lead for several laps.
VeeKay pitted from first spot on Lap 98 and Lundgaard was in on Lap 100, leaving Newgarden out in front from Ferrucci, McLaughlin, Robb, and Daly, while Power was back in 13th.
A heart-stopping spin for Ryan Hunter-Reay brought about the sixth Caution on Lap 107.
Dixon got a run on Power in a battle for 16th but then moved to his left and Hunter-Reay made contact, which sent his #23 DRR Chevrolet pirouetting through the grass up the back straight.
He survived and drove back to the pits with a damaged front wing and steering arm, as Robb and Daly, among others, took the opportunity to pit.
The running order is now Newgarden, McLaughlin, Ferrucci, Palou, Rossi, Larson, Helio Castroneves (#06 MSR Honda), Agustin Canapino (#78 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet), Christian Rasmussen (#33 ECR Honda), Rahal, and Power in 11th, with Dixon 18th.
Meanwhile, Herta has resumed 18 laps down, with a new front wing on Car #26.
